Who I Am, What I'll Become Fic 1: Illusions (4/11)
Title.: Illusions 4/? Story 1 in the "Who I Am, What I'll Become" series
Author: X_tremeroswellian
Email: faithboscorelli1@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: Not mine. Angel, Cordelia, Wesley, and any Scooby Gang cameos belong to Joss Whedon. Liz, Max, Michael, Maria, Alex, Isabel, Tess, Nasedo, and any other Roswellians belong to Melinda Metz and Jason Katims. Please don't sue.
Distribution: Just let me know the link.
Rating: PG-13 for now (for language, violence, adult content)
Author's Note: This is an Angel-Roswell crossover with possible cameos by the Scooby Gang from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Spoilers: For Angel, everything up through and including Shanshu in L.A. (1st season's finale), and for Roswell, everything up through and including Destiny (1st season's finale)...
Category: Story
Subcategory(ies): Action-Adventure, sci-fi-horror, angsty romance.
Keywords: Crossover/Series
Summary: Fleeing Roswell's painful memories, Liz takes off to L.A. and finds trouble, leaving Angel, Cordelia and Wesley to save her; little do they know they're in just as much trouble as she is.
Feedback: Would be appreciated. :)
Illusions (Part 4)
Alex was sitting at his computer, getting ready to log onto the Internet when the telephone rang. He glanced at the clock, and wondered who would be calling him at 9:52 p.m. He reached over and picked up the receiver. "Hello?"
"Alex?"
"Liz?"
"Yeah, it's me."
He frowned. She sounded tired, but it might have just been the connection. "Everything okay? You still at the Holiday Inn in L.A.?"
"Actually that's sort of why I called."
Alex heard her hesitate. Not a good sign, he thought.
"I wanted to call before the 10 o'clock news so no one panicked or anything."
Nervousness lodged itself in his stomach, but Alex had never been one to lose his cool and calm demeanor until he'd at least *heard* the problem. And even then, most of the time he could stay calmer than Maria. "Okay." He reached over and turned on the t.v.
"Okay, first of all, I'm totally fine. I wasn't hurt or anything. And I hadn't even unpacked, so I didn't lose any of my stuff."
"Liz, you're stalling."
"I know, I know. I just don't want you to freak out when I tell you..."
She kept talking but Alex was no longer listening. His eyes were glued to the news.
"Earlier this morning, a bomb exploded at this L.A. hotel," the reporter said, motioning to the remains behind her. "There were numerous counts of minor injuries, but so far no one has been listed in critical condition. Investigators have no suspects fo far, but say they expect to apprehend the perpetrator soon..."
"Oh, my God. Oh, my God," Alex muttered. "Liz, what happened?" She explained to him about the evacuation, and he shook his head. "Liz, this is the second life-threatening even you've had since you got to L.A. yesterday. Something's not right. Come back to Roswell. Please."
"Alex, it's a coincidence. I can't come back. You know why."
"Liz, I know you're hurting. I know. You've been one of my best friends since the fifth grade. And I'm sorry that you're hurting. But if you come home, we can get through this together--you, me and Maria."
"Alex, I know you're worried. But I'm okay. I have to go. Love you. Bye."
She hung up before he had a chance to protest.
"Damn," he muttered.
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Cordelia ran.
She didn't know where she was going but she kept running. Twists, turns -- she ran in the darkness, stumbling around corners and bouncing off walls as she tried to escape the thing there's chasing her.
"Cordelia," it said in a sing song voice. "You don't know who I am so how can you hide from me?"
She wasn't sure if it was even behind her anymore. It could be and front of her or behind her or above her...
It could be anywhere.
She raced around another corner. And ran directly into Wesley.
Relief washed over her. "Wes, thank God! Something is after me."
Wesley looked down at her, his face emotionless but his eyes as cold as steel. "Yes. Something is."
Sh stared back at him, confused. "Well, you have to help me!"
"The only thing I can do for you is kill you," he replied, his mouth twisting into a wicked smile.
Cordelia backed away, horrified. It took her a minute to figure it out and when she did, her eyes widened.
It's not Wesley, she thought.
He advanced on her, and without thinking, she ducked under his arm, grabbed a stake out of her back pocket and jammed it into the guy's heart as she spun around.
Buffy would have been proud.
The guy slumped to the ground, but didn't explode into dust.
"Oh, my God," she whispered.
She had just killed a person!
A person who looked exactly like one of her best friends.
But it hadn't been Wesley.
It couldn't have been.
Could it?
Cordelia backed away from the body. "No," she whispered. She turned around and fled, this time running into Angel. She threw her arms around him, crying.
He grabbed her roughly by the shoulders and slammed her up against the wall. "Who are you? What have you done with Cordelia?" he demanded, glaring at her with feral yellow eyes.
"Angel, it's me!"
Angel wrapped his hands around her throat. "Tell me where she is or I'll kill you!"
She tried to pry his fingers away. "Angel, please! I need your help! I think I may have killed Wesley!"
Angel dragged her down the corridor, keeping one hand around her neck. He turned the corner and saw Wesley's body on the floor, a stake through his heart. Then he turned back to her, tightening his grip on her throat. "Is she dead, too? What are you?"
She choked on her words, struggling for breath. "I'm...Cor...de..lia!"
Angel growled at her and began to strangle her until her lifeless body dropped to the floor uselessly. He stared down at her for a moment, and then turned away when suddenly the other body on the floor started to move.
He watched as Wesley reached up, pulled the wooden stake out of his heart, and sat up. Wesley smiled as he saw Cordelia dead on the floor only feet away. "Wow. I didn't think you had it in you. Angelus, yeah, but you? I'm impressed." He stood up and laughed at the shock on Angel's face. "And you thought she wasn't a good actress."
Angel stared at him in disbelief. "What?"
"All this time you thought you could tell the difference between one of your only real friends and an imposter. Turns out you didn't really know her at all. Poor little lonely Cordelia." Wesley began to laugh.
"What are you?"
"I was your redemption, but you've thrown it all away." He motioned to her lifeless body.
Angel sank to his knees, cradling her head in his lap. "Oh God. What have I done?" he whispered, tears flooding his eyes.
"You can't help that you're just a monster at heart." Wesley handed him a the wooden stake that only moments ago had been lodged in his own chest. "Go on. Do it. Your life's not worth much now anyway."
Angel took the stake from him, staring at if for only the briefest of moments. Then he plunged it into his heart.
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Cordelia sat up, gasping for breath. "No!"
It took her a few seconds to realize she was in her bedroom. She relaxed a bit and looked around. Nothing appeared out of place. Her heartbeat slowed to it's normal pace again as she took a few deep breaths and laid back against her pillows.
It has just been a dream.
A horrible, horrible dream.
She felt Dennis smooth the hair out of her eyes and she relaxed a little more. At least she knew she wasn't alone.
Cordelia turned over onto her side and stared at the red digits on her clock. She watched the minutes change, and then the hours. A nervous ball of anxiety shot hoops in her stomach.
She never went back to sleep.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Isabel awoke to the sound of her bedroom window sliding open. She froze in fear for a moment until she heard someone climbing inside, and she leapt out of bed, grabbed a lamp, and ripped the cord from the wall, prepared to swing it at the person.
"Isabel, it's me!"
She closed her eyes. "Michael, God, don't do that! You nearly scared me to death!" she snapped.
"Sorry."
Isabel let out a sigh and replaced the lamp on her dresser. "It's 3 in the morning. What are you doing here?"
"I had a vision. At least, I think it was a vision."
She felt herself tense. "What did you see?"
Michael hesitated, then met her eyes. "Liz. And I think she's in trouble."
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Angel sat at his new desk, staring down at the morning paper but not really seeing it.
He had spent all yesterday afternoon and evening harassing local demons at the bars they frequented in an attempt to find out who was behind yesterday's bombing, only to come to the conclusion that no one knew a thing.
He had gone back to Doyle's old apartment and spent the night trying to get some sleep. Just as he it finally drifted off, he was startled out of sleep by a sudden unexplainable nervous anxiety.
At that moment, Wesley walked in. He walked over and dropped a folder on Angel's desk in front of him.
"Is this the --?"
"List of names of everyone in the hotel yesterday."
"How did you --?"
"Long story involving a Plaetzu Demon. You don't want to know."
Angel pulled the list out of the folder and glanced through the names. "No one familiar."
"No, to me, either. But that doesn't mean that someone on this list doesn't have connections to Wolfram and Hart."
"Good point. We should start running background checks."
"Yes," Wesley agreed. They looked at one another and then over at the computer. No one said anything for a moment. Then, "I'm afraid I haven't been very forthcoming in the knowledge of modern technology."
"That definitely makes two of us," Angel agreed regretfully.
They both looked to the door when it opened and Cordelia walked in. Wesley looked at Angel, a startled expression on his face, one that probably very much mirrored Angel's own.
"Morning," she muttered.
Angel couldn't help staring. She was wearing a white blouse that was slightly wrinkled, and a long black skirt. Her hair was back in a loose ponytail. Her face was ashen and there were circles under her eyes. In the entire time that Angel had known Cordelia Chase, he'd never seen her look less than perfect.
But now...
Something was definitely not right.
He met Wesley's eyes, then looked past him to Cordelia again. "Wesley found the list of names of the hotel guests."
"Good," she answered vaguely. "That will... help."
He frowned and watched as she dropped onto the sofa.
"Uh, Cordelia would you like some coffee?" Wesley offered.
When she didn't respond, Angel stood up, walked over to the couch and sat down beside her. "Cordelia?"
She blinked and turned her face to look at him. "What?"
"Are you okay?"
"Yes." She rose to her feet and moved to Angel's desk. She picked up the list of names and held it up. "This it?"
Wesley looked at her worriedly. "That's it."
"When do we start the background checks?" She asked.
Angel and Wesley exchanged a glance. "Are any of the names familiar to you?" He watched as Cordelia's gaze travelled down the paper.
"No. None of them," she said finally, disappointment obvious in her voice. "I'm sorry."
"Hey. Wesley and I didn't recognize any of them either," he told her.
"Yeah, but I get the visions. I should know these things. God only knows how much time it's going to take to do background checks on all of these people," she said in frustration.
"Cordelia, you only get what The Powers That Be gives you to work with," Wesley pointed out.
"It's not your fault," Angel said quietly.
She didn't reply as she moved over to the computer desk and sat down.
Angel looked at Wesley and sighed inwardly. It was going to be a long day.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alex was surprised to find Isabel Evans on his doorstep for the second morning in a row. This time, however, he was wide awake. Because after Liz's phone call he hadn't been able to sleep.
"Hey. Can I come in?" Isabel asked anxiously.
He noted that while she looked as beautiful as she always did, she also looked tired. He stepped aside and let her in. "Is everything okay?"
"Michael had a vision this morning."
Uh, oh.
"Bad vision, I take it?"
"He thinks Liz is in danger."
A wave of relief washed over him. "She's okay. She called me last night. She was... almost in an accident yesterday but she is fine now."
Isabel stared at him. "You're sure?"
He noticed the worry in her voice. " Yeah."
"Good. I'll--tell Michael. He will be glad to hear she's all right."
Alex nodded. "Okay."
"So, then, I should probably go. And tell him." She didn't make any move toward the door.
"Or you could call him."
"Call him?" Isabel repeated.
"Yeah. He motioned to the phone "I mean, if you would rather stay here and hang out for awhile, you could use our phone to call Michael."
She smiled. "I'd like that."
"Me too," Alex agreed, returning her smile.
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Liz walked down the sidewalk, carrying a sack from one of the local shops, Hodginson's. She had found a cute stuffed pig she knew Maria would like, and a CD she knew Alex had been wanting for awhile.
She had just been resting in her hotel room, watching old movies on cable But after a while all of her thoughts wandered to Max.
And she had to get out.
So she'd gone shopping, determined to tune out her thoughts. She'd hailed a cab and had the driver drop her off on a heavy-business section of town so she could do some shopping.
Liz paused and looked into a shop window.
"I said it's over, Ted!" a woman snapped.
"But... you mean everything to me," Ted whispered.
Liz cringed at the words.
"You do have a destiny, Max. You just heard it. I can't stand in the way of it."
"But you mean everything to me," Max whispered.
Liz squeezed her eyes shut, trying to prevent the scene from unfolding in her mind, trying to block out the sound of his voice.
"Excuse me," a woman said as she bumped into Liz.
Her eyes opened. "It's okay." She shook her head and walked away. That's exactly what she had to keep doing.
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Cordelia drew in a deep breath as she stepped outside. She rubbed the back of her neck with one hand, trying to ease her tense muscles.
Damn dream, she thought.
She shuddered as she remembered driving the stake into Wesley's heart, and then again as she recalled the feel of angel's hands wrapped around her neck, squeezing the life out of her.
"It was just a dream," she murmured. Jesus. When did I become such a wuss? I've faced countless demons, vampires and nasty creatures in the past four years of my life barely flinching and now I'm getting wigged by a dream.
And it wasn't like she could say, "Hey, Wes, Angel, guess what I dreamed about last night."
Cordelia sighed and walked down the street. She told them she needed to go to lunch early and get some air, that she still had a headache from yesterday's vision.
She didn't, really, but it was believable. And she was realizing that lying to Angel and Wesley was much more difficult than she had imagine. Not only was it difficult... but she hated it. It made her feel guilty.
Cordelia paused in the middle of the sidewalk, frowning. Something wasn't right. She turned around in a slow circle, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.
She didn't know what was wrong -- but it was a strong feeling. Like she got right before she received a vision, only different.
She took another deep breath and looked around again, more carefully this time. A couple having an argument across the street. A child crying in her stroller as her mother hurried down the sidewalk. A girl with dark hair walking across the crosswalk and carrying a couple of shopping bags.
And a dark blue sedan headed straight for her.
Cordelia's eyes widened. " Hey! Look out!" She shouted.
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Liz waited for the light to change and give her the okay to cross the street. That was when she saw him.
Standing on the corner, staring at her, his eyes dark and intense as they always were.
"Max," she whispered. She blinked a couple times and when she looked again, Max was gone, replaced by a guy who only vaguely resembled him. "I'm losing it."
Just then the light changed. She started across the crosswalk and was about halfway across the stree when she heard someone scream, " Hey! Look out!"
Mere seconds later she was hit by the same woman at a dead run, and thrown out of the way as a car raced by, missing her only by inches.
She lay in a daze for a few seconds and sat up, her bags scattered around. Then Liz saw the other woman, whom apparently wasn't as lucky a she had been.
The woman lay unconscious less than two feet away from her, blood seeping from a head wound.
Liz's eyes widened in horror. "Oh, my God!"
Author: X_tremeroswellian
Email: faithboscorelli1@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: Not mine. Angel, Cordelia, Wesley, and any Scooby Gang cameos belong to Joss Whedon. Liz, Max, Michael, Maria, Alex, Isabel, Tess, Nasedo, and any other Roswellians belong to Melinda Metz and Jason Katims. Please don't sue.
Distribution: Just let me know the link.
Rating: PG-13 for now (for language, violence, adult content)
Author's Note: This is an Angel-Roswell crossover with possible cameos by the Scooby Gang from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Spoilers: For Angel, everything up through and including Shanshu in L.A. (1st season's finale), and for Roswell, everything up through and including Destiny (1st season's finale)...
Category: Story
Subcategory(ies): Action-Adventure, sci-fi-horror, angsty romance.
Keywords: Crossover/Series
Summary: Fleeing Roswell's painful memories, Liz takes off to L.A. and finds trouble, leaving Angel, Cordelia and Wesley to save her; little do they know they're in just as much trouble as she is.
Feedback: Would be appreciated. :)
Illusions (Part 4)
Alex was sitting at his computer, getting ready to log onto the Internet when the telephone rang. He glanced at the clock, and wondered who would be calling him at 9:52 p.m. He reached over and picked up the receiver. "Hello?"
"Alex?"
"Liz?"
"Yeah, it's me."
He frowned. She sounded tired, but it might have just been the connection. "Everything okay? You still at the Holiday Inn in L.A.?"
"Actually that's sort of why I called."
Alex heard her hesitate. Not a good sign, he thought.
"I wanted to call before the 10 o'clock news so no one panicked or anything."
Nervousness lodged itself in his stomach, but Alex had never been one to lose his cool and calm demeanor until he'd at least *heard* the problem. And even then, most of the time he could stay calmer than Maria. "Okay." He reached over and turned on the t.v.
"Okay, first of all, I'm totally fine. I wasn't hurt or anything. And I hadn't even unpacked, so I didn't lose any of my stuff."
"Liz, you're stalling."
"I know, I know. I just don't want you to freak out when I tell you..."
She kept talking but Alex was no longer listening. His eyes were glued to the news.
"Earlier this morning, a bomb exploded at this L.A. hotel," the reporter said, motioning to the remains behind her. "There were numerous counts of minor injuries, but so far no one has been listed in critical condition. Investigators have no suspects fo far, but say they expect to apprehend the perpetrator soon..."
"Oh, my God. Oh, my God," Alex muttered. "Liz, what happened?" She explained to him about the evacuation, and he shook his head. "Liz, this is the second life-threatening even you've had since you got to L.A. yesterday. Something's not right. Come back to Roswell. Please."
"Alex, it's a coincidence. I can't come back. You know why."
"Liz, I know you're hurting. I know. You've been one of my best friends since the fifth grade. And I'm sorry that you're hurting. But if you come home, we can get through this together--you, me and Maria."
"Alex, I know you're worried. But I'm okay. I have to go. Love you. Bye."
She hung up before he had a chance to protest.
"Damn," he muttered.
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Cordelia ran.
She didn't know where she was going but she kept running. Twists, turns -- she ran in the darkness, stumbling around corners and bouncing off walls as she tried to escape the thing there's chasing her.
"Cordelia," it said in a sing song voice. "You don't know who I am so how can you hide from me?"
She wasn't sure if it was even behind her anymore. It could be and front of her or behind her or above her...
It could be anywhere.
She raced around another corner. And ran directly into Wesley.
Relief washed over her. "Wes, thank God! Something is after me."
Wesley looked down at her, his face emotionless but his eyes as cold as steel. "Yes. Something is."
Sh stared back at him, confused. "Well, you have to help me!"
"The only thing I can do for you is kill you," he replied, his mouth twisting into a wicked smile.
Cordelia backed away, horrified. It took her a minute to figure it out and when she did, her eyes widened.
It's not Wesley, she thought.
He advanced on her, and without thinking, she ducked under his arm, grabbed a stake out of her back pocket and jammed it into the guy's heart as she spun around.
Buffy would have been proud.
The guy slumped to the ground, but didn't explode into dust.
"Oh, my God," she whispered.
She had just killed a person!
A person who looked exactly like one of her best friends.
But it hadn't been Wesley.
It couldn't have been.
Could it?
Cordelia backed away from the body. "No," she whispered. She turned around and fled, this time running into Angel. She threw her arms around him, crying.
He grabbed her roughly by the shoulders and slammed her up against the wall. "Who are you? What have you done with Cordelia?" he demanded, glaring at her with feral yellow eyes.
"Angel, it's me!"
Angel wrapped his hands around her throat. "Tell me where she is or I'll kill you!"
She tried to pry his fingers away. "Angel, please! I need your help! I think I may have killed Wesley!"
Angel dragged her down the corridor, keeping one hand around her neck. He turned the corner and saw Wesley's body on the floor, a stake through his heart. Then he turned back to her, tightening his grip on her throat. "Is she dead, too? What are you?"
She choked on her words, struggling for breath. "I'm...Cor...de..lia!"
Angel growled at her and began to strangle her until her lifeless body dropped to the floor uselessly. He stared down at her for a moment, and then turned away when suddenly the other body on the floor started to move.
He watched as Wesley reached up, pulled the wooden stake out of his heart, and sat up. Wesley smiled as he saw Cordelia dead on the floor only feet away. "Wow. I didn't think you had it in you. Angelus, yeah, but you? I'm impressed." He stood up and laughed at the shock on Angel's face. "And you thought she wasn't a good actress."
Angel stared at him in disbelief. "What?"
"All this time you thought you could tell the difference between one of your only real friends and an imposter. Turns out you didn't really know her at all. Poor little lonely Cordelia." Wesley began to laugh.
"What are you?"
"I was your redemption, but you've thrown it all away." He motioned to her lifeless body.
Angel sank to his knees, cradling her head in his lap. "Oh God. What have I done?" he whispered, tears flooding his eyes.
"You can't help that you're just a monster at heart." Wesley handed him a the wooden stake that only moments ago had been lodged in his own chest. "Go on. Do it. Your life's not worth much now anyway."
Angel took the stake from him, staring at if for only the briefest of moments. Then he plunged it into his heart.
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Cordelia sat up, gasping for breath. "No!"
It took her a few seconds to realize she was in her bedroom. She relaxed a bit and looked around. Nothing appeared out of place. Her heartbeat slowed to it's normal pace again as she took a few deep breaths and laid back against her pillows.
It has just been a dream.
A horrible, horrible dream.
She felt Dennis smooth the hair out of her eyes and she relaxed a little more. At least she knew she wasn't alone.
Cordelia turned over onto her side and stared at the red digits on her clock. She watched the minutes change, and then the hours. A nervous ball of anxiety shot hoops in her stomach.
She never went back to sleep.
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Isabel awoke to the sound of her bedroom window sliding open. She froze in fear for a moment until she heard someone climbing inside, and she leapt out of bed, grabbed a lamp, and ripped the cord from the wall, prepared to swing it at the person.
"Isabel, it's me!"
She closed her eyes. "Michael, God, don't do that! You nearly scared me to death!" she snapped.
"Sorry."
Isabel let out a sigh and replaced the lamp on her dresser. "It's 3 in the morning. What are you doing here?"
"I had a vision. At least, I think it was a vision."
She felt herself tense. "What did you see?"
Michael hesitated, then met her eyes. "Liz. And I think she's in trouble."
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Angel sat at his new desk, staring down at the morning paper but not really seeing it.
He had spent all yesterday afternoon and evening harassing local demons at the bars they frequented in an attempt to find out who was behind yesterday's bombing, only to come to the conclusion that no one knew a thing.
He had gone back to Doyle's old apartment and spent the night trying to get some sleep. Just as he it finally drifted off, he was startled out of sleep by a sudden unexplainable nervous anxiety.
At that moment, Wesley walked in. He walked over and dropped a folder on Angel's desk in front of him.
"Is this the --?"
"List of names of everyone in the hotel yesterday."
"How did you --?"
"Long story involving a Plaetzu Demon. You don't want to know."
Angel pulled the list out of the folder and glanced through the names. "No one familiar."
"No, to me, either. But that doesn't mean that someone on this list doesn't have connections to Wolfram and Hart."
"Good point. We should start running background checks."
"Yes," Wesley agreed. They looked at one another and then over at the computer. No one said anything for a moment. Then, "I'm afraid I haven't been very forthcoming in the knowledge of modern technology."
"That definitely makes two of us," Angel agreed regretfully.
They both looked to the door when it opened and Cordelia walked in. Wesley looked at Angel, a startled expression on his face, one that probably very much mirrored Angel's own.
"Morning," she muttered.
Angel couldn't help staring. She was wearing a white blouse that was slightly wrinkled, and a long black skirt. Her hair was back in a loose ponytail. Her face was ashen and there were circles under her eyes. In the entire time that Angel had known Cordelia Chase, he'd never seen her look less than perfect.
But now...
Something was definitely not right.
He met Wesley's eyes, then looked past him to Cordelia again. "Wesley found the list of names of the hotel guests."
"Good," she answered vaguely. "That will... help."
He frowned and watched as she dropped onto the sofa.
"Uh, Cordelia would you like some coffee?" Wesley offered.
When she didn't respond, Angel stood up, walked over to the couch and sat down beside her. "Cordelia?"
She blinked and turned her face to look at him. "What?"
"Are you okay?"
"Yes." She rose to her feet and moved to Angel's desk. She picked up the list of names and held it up. "This it?"
Wesley looked at her worriedly. "That's it."
"When do we start the background checks?" She asked.
Angel and Wesley exchanged a glance. "Are any of the names familiar to you?" He watched as Cordelia's gaze travelled down the paper.
"No. None of them," she said finally, disappointment obvious in her voice. "I'm sorry."
"Hey. Wesley and I didn't recognize any of them either," he told her.
"Yeah, but I get the visions. I should know these things. God only knows how much time it's going to take to do background checks on all of these people," she said in frustration.
"Cordelia, you only get what The Powers That Be gives you to work with," Wesley pointed out.
"It's not your fault," Angel said quietly.
She didn't reply as she moved over to the computer desk and sat down.
Angel looked at Wesley and sighed inwardly. It was going to be a long day.
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Alex was surprised to find Isabel Evans on his doorstep for the second morning in a row. This time, however, he was wide awake. Because after Liz's phone call he hadn't been able to sleep.
"Hey. Can I come in?" Isabel asked anxiously.
He noted that while she looked as beautiful as she always did, she also looked tired. He stepped aside and let her in. "Is everything okay?"
"Michael had a vision this morning."
Uh, oh.
"Bad vision, I take it?"
"He thinks Liz is in danger."
A wave of relief washed over him. "She's okay. She called me last night. She was... almost in an accident yesterday but she is fine now."
Isabel stared at him. "You're sure?"
He noticed the worry in her voice. " Yeah."
"Good. I'll--tell Michael. He will be glad to hear she's all right."
Alex nodded. "Okay."
"So, then, I should probably go. And tell him." She didn't make any move toward the door.
"Or you could call him."
"Call him?" Isabel repeated.
"Yeah. He motioned to the phone "I mean, if you would rather stay here and hang out for awhile, you could use our phone to call Michael."
She smiled. "I'd like that."
"Me too," Alex agreed, returning her smile.
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Liz walked down the sidewalk, carrying a sack from one of the local shops, Hodginson's. She had found a cute stuffed pig she knew Maria would like, and a CD she knew Alex had been wanting for awhile.
She had just been resting in her hotel room, watching old movies on cable But after a while all of her thoughts wandered to Max.
And she had to get out.
So she'd gone shopping, determined to tune out her thoughts. She'd hailed a cab and had the driver drop her off on a heavy-business section of town so she could do some shopping.
Liz paused and looked into a shop window.
"I said it's over, Ted!" a woman snapped.
"But... you mean everything to me," Ted whispered.
Liz cringed at the words.
"You do have a destiny, Max. You just heard it. I can't stand in the way of it."
"But you mean everything to me," Max whispered.
Liz squeezed her eyes shut, trying to prevent the scene from unfolding in her mind, trying to block out the sound of his voice.
"Excuse me," a woman said as she bumped into Liz.
Her eyes opened. "It's okay." She shook her head and walked away. That's exactly what she had to keep doing.
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Cordelia drew in a deep breath as she stepped outside. She rubbed the back of her neck with one hand, trying to ease her tense muscles.
Damn dream, she thought.
She shuddered as she remembered driving the stake into Wesley's heart, and then again as she recalled the feel of angel's hands wrapped around her neck, squeezing the life out of her.
"It was just a dream," she murmured. Jesus. When did I become such a wuss? I've faced countless demons, vampires and nasty creatures in the past four years of my life barely flinching and now I'm getting wigged by a dream.
And it wasn't like she could say, "Hey, Wes, Angel, guess what I dreamed about last night."
Cordelia sighed and walked down the street. She told them she needed to go to lunch early and get some air, that she still had a headache from yesterday's vision.
She didn't, really, but it was believable. And she was realizing that lying to Angel and Wesley was much more difficult than she had imagine. Not only was it difficult... but she hated it. It made her feel guilty.
Cordelia paused in the middle of the sidewalk, frowning. Something wasn't right. She turned around in a slow circle, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.
She didn't know what was wrong -- but it was a strong feeling. Like she got right before she received a vision, only different.
She took another deep breath and looked around again, more carefully this time. A couple having an argument across the street. A child crying in her stroller as her mother hurried down the sidewalk. A girl with dark hair walking across the crosswalk and carrying a couple of shopping bags.
And a dark blue sedan headed straight for her.
Cordelia's eyes widened. " Hey! Look out!" She shouted.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Liz waited for the light to change and give her the okay to cross the street. That was when she saw him.
Standing on the corner, staring at her, his eyes dark and intense as they always were.
"Max," she whispered. She blinked a couple times and when she looked again, Max was gone, replaced by a guy who only vaguely resembled him. "I'm losing it."
Just then the light changed. She started across the crosswalk and was about halfway across the stree when she heard someone scream, " Hey! Look out!"
Mere seconds later she was hit by the same woman at a dead run, and thrown out of the way as a car raced by, missing her only by inches.
She lay in a daze for a few seconds and sat up, her bags scattered around. Then Liz saw the other woman, whom apparently wasn't as lucky a she had been.
The woman lay unconscious less than two feet away from her, blood seeping from a head wound.
Liz's eyes widened in horror. "Oh, my God!"